The Australian dollar surged and shares reversed early falls as China trade data showed the economic recovery of the world's second-largest economy is accelerating and exceeding market expectations.
China's trade surplus rose sharply last month, with export growth more than quadrupling from November, to 14.1 per cent, while imports -- which failed to grow at all in November -- rose by 6 per cent in a sign of increasing domestic demand.
The trade figures add to evidence that Australia's largest trading partner -- and the key buyer of the nation's iron ore and coal -- is gradually emerging from its worst economic downturn since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Various economic data have been signalling that China's economy has been accelerating since September, after several quarters of slowing growth.
But until the December trade data, the recovery appeared to have been driven largely by domestic factors, as economies in Europe and the US remained tepid.
